You can’t please all the wives all of the time

Branded cold by one of his seven wives, the ‘rampant rabbi’ of East Sussex has hit back. She was jealous and had to go, he says

Philip Sharp with his seven ‘wives’, including Tracey, at the back in green top (Paul Webb)

Splitting up with a loved one is never easy, and when Philip and Tracey
Sharp’s decade-long relationship began to fall apart two years ago, both
were devastated.

After the emotional upheaval of dividing up clothes, books and other
possessions, Tracey moved out of their home, a farm in Whatlington, East
Sussex, and found a flat nearby. More trauma followed as she battled for
custody of their two daughters, all the while feeling lonely and bereft.

Sharp, 53, by contrast, did not have too much time to brood about what he had
lost. Tracey may have gone, but he still has six other “wives” — aged 29 to
68 — to keep happy. Plus there are the 18 children.

While most women are incensed by the slightest inkling their spouse might be
sleeping with another woman, Sharp’s cohort — Judith, Hannah, Vreni, Margo,
Karyn and Chava — are so accepting of his needs that they